BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana Attorney
General Jeff Landry has joined another multi-state lawsuit challenging one
state’s attempts to enforce burdensome agricultural regulations on other
states.
In this legal move, Louisiana and twelve
other states have filed a motion at the Supreme Court of the United States
challenging a Massachusetts law that seeks to dictate the conditions of housing
for poultry, hogs, and calves.
“Massachusetts’s efforts to regulate
farming in other states constitute extraterritorial commercial regulation in
violation of the Commerce Clause,” said General Landry. “This extraterritorial
regulation will increase the costs of producing and marketing farm commodities
nationwide, including for farmers and consumers in Louisiana.”
“Louisiana has nearly 27,000 farm
operations across our State – including many who produce poultry, hogs, and
cattle,” said General Landry. “I will not sit idly while other states violate
the rule of law, burden our farmers with illegal regulations, and drive up
prices for our consumers.”
According to the 2012 Census – Louisiana
had 10,121 cows and calves farms, 1,504 poultry and egg farms, and 382 hog
farms. The State ranks 30th in the Nation for value of agriculture products
sold and 20th for sales from poultry.
This lawsuit, Indiana, et al. v.
Massachusetts, comes after a recent filing by General Landry challenging a
California law requiring that eggs comply with California’s onerous cage-system
regulations. Joining Landry in the Massachusetts case are the Attorneys General
from Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
“It is imperative that Attorneys General
across the country work together to defend federalism,” said General Landry. “I
hope the Supreme Court will take up this case soon and will protect our states’
constitutional rights.”
#